Quake: Cataclysm
by Nabernizer
Summary: A prequel story to the original Quake. WIP. Feedback appreciated.


**Quake: Cataclysm**

By Nabernizer

**Prologue**

Dr. Winfield was a nervous wreck. The countless hours of research he had devoted to his project were about to be put to the test. He wished that he could feel positive about the test, but he felt that he had done something wrong. He tried to push any thought of failure out of his mind as he walked down the metal corridor. He came to a door labeled: _Observation Deck 1._ It was time. With a swipe of his keycard, the door swiftly raised and Dr. Winfield walked into the test chamber's observation deck. It was a a small room raised around 30 meters above the actual test chamber, with a blast proof layer of glass separating the two rooms. The test chamber itself was a large, round, metal room with orange letter spelling **TC1 **stenciled on the wall. There were various machines and control panels on the floor of the chamber, and a square platform, illuminated by red lights on each of its corners in the exact center of the chamber.

"Dr. Winfield," said Dr. Grace as she stood up from her computer. The two shook hands. "We are just waiting for the all clear from you to activate the Slipgate."

"Let me check the readings." said Dr. Winfield. He walked over to the computer. Everything was fine. He took a deep breath. "Everything checks out. Lets turn it on."

"Alright, where will we be sending the test subject?"

"Just to the other test chamber. Its not too far."

Dr. Grace entered some commands into the computer, and a blue light from the center of the platform in the test chamber started to appear. The machines powering this platform began to grumble, and after a few seconds the noise grew too loud for Dr. Winfield, and sound transmission from the chamber was turned off. A minute passed, with the light slowly gaining brightness.

"The levels are almost to the correct point." said Dr. Grace staring at the computer screen, watching the numbers and graphs attentively. Very soon after she said this, the light in the center of the chamber imploded, sending a shockwave through the test chamber and observation deck. With this, the machines quieted down to a hum, and the light was gone, the lights on the platform blinking slowly.

"My god, it worked." said an astonished Dr. Winfield.

"It seems, so calm." said Dr. Grace.

"The test subject, sent him in."

Dr Grace typed a command and pressed enter. The door to the test chamber opened. A lone man walked in side.

"Hello there Mr. Dobson." greeted Dr. Winfield over the loudspeaker. "You have volunteered for this, correct?"

"Yes," replied Dobson. "I'm very excited."

"You should be, you are about to be the first person ever to be teleported. I would just like to assure you that everything has gone right so far, and that the chance for anything going wrong is beyond low."

"Heh, don't discourage me now."

"I'm sorry, I just don't want you to be scared is all."

"This has been tested before, on something nonliving yes?" Dr. Winfield paused for a second.

Dr. Winfield paused for a second. "Of course Mr. Dobson," lied Dr. Winfield. Dr Grace looked at him confused. "Those tests were successful. Now, all you need to do, is walk on to that platform with the blinking lights."

"That's it huh?"

"Yes, you will be teleported to the adjacent test chamber. Are you ready"

"Absolutely."

"Please proceed onto the platform."

Dobson slowly walked toward the platform. He stood by it for a second, before taking a step onto it. He was instantaneously teleported, leaving a blue mist behind.

"Was the test successful Dr. Grace?" asked Dr. Winfield eagerly.

"You're calculations may have been slightly off. He was not immediately teleported to the other chamber."

"What?"

"I'm sure that something wasn't accounted for."

Dr. Winfield took another deep breath. "Yes, there was no telling what could happen."

The two waited for five minutes. Dr. Winfield thinking back to his equations, desperately trying to remember where he went wrong with the time factor.

"Something definitely went wrong..." he mumbled.

"Yeah...I think so." replied Dr. Grace. It wasn't until twenty minutes later that a reading from the other test chamber was detected.

"What is it." said Dr. Winfield.

"I believe we have a re-entry." answered Dr. Grace.

"Is there any radiation?"

"No, but I suggest we sent in the recovery team with radiation suits. Just in case there is something foreign that the sensors can't pick up."

"Fine." Dr. Winfield turned on the intercom. "Recovery team, please put on your radiation suits and proceed into Test Chamber 2." He turned back to Dr. Grace. "Come on, let's go to the other observation deck. The two left the room and walked down the hallway.

"At least he made it." said Dr. Grace.

"Hopefully in one piece." replied Dr. Winfield under his breath.

The radio made Dr. Grace jump. "Dr. Winfield!" It was the recovery team. The two stopped. Dr. Winfield lowered the volume of the radio before replying.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Get over to the test chamber now. There isn't any radiation." Dr Winfield lowered the radio and turned to Dr. Grace.

"Get to the observation deck," he commanded. "I'm going to see what has happened."

Dr. Winfield ran to the elevator and was lowered into a room with three doors. He ran to the one that led into Test Chamber 2. He walked through the door. Before he even saw what had happened, he knew something had gone more wrong than he had thought. He could see Dr. Grace in the observation deck, an expression of immense shock on her face. A recovery team member approached him.

"I..." was all he could muster.

Dr. Winfield saw the body. It was covered in blood. He walked toward it for a closer look. The body of Dobson was barely recognizable. The palms of his hands had holes in them, his ears had been torn off, his eyes had been gouged in, and he had been disemboweled. Besides this, he was was covered in writing that had been carved into his body, most prominently a large symbol vaguely resembling a Q had been carved in his forehead.


End file.
